Business

ISTANBUL, Mar 28 (NNN-ANADOLU) — Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that, all international flights would be cancelled, as part of the fight against COVID-19.

Announcing new measures against the spread of the outbreak during a televised live broadcast, Erdogan also noted that, inter-city travel across the country would be subject to the permission of governors in each province.

“A flexible working system will be implemented with minimum personnel both in private and public sectors,” Erdogan said.

SINGAPORE, Mar 28 (NNN-CNA) – It would be “a significant challenge” to hold the Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) in early June, in view of the COVID-19 outbreak, Singapore Defence Minister, Ng Eng Hen said.

The SLD is held in Singapore in late May or early June, by London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). The think tank announced that it would call off this year’s SLD, scheduled for June 5-7.

WASHINGTON, March 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The coronavirus pandemic has driven the global economy into a downturn that will require massive funding to help developing nations, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said.

“It is clear that we have entered a recession” that will be worse than in 2009 following the global financial crisis, she said in an online press briefing.

With the worldwide economic “sudden stop,” Georgieva said the fund’s estimate “for the overall financial needs of emerging markets is $2.5 trillion.”

27 Mar 2020; MEMO: Following the global outbreak of the highly contagious coronavirus, a Palestinian sewing company is producing surgical masks and other protective gear instead of clothing, reports The Times of Israel.

UniPal 2000 factory in the Karni Industrial Zone in Gaza City is a merger of four sewing factories with a capital of $1.2 million and 200 workers.

Harare, Mar 27 (AFP/PTI) Zimbabwe has re-introduced the use of foreign currency for domestic transactions in what was seen as a bid to tap into private forex savings as the country gears up for the battle against the novel coronavirus.

In a statement the central bank governor John Mangudya said the move is part of "measures to mitigate the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the Zimbabwean society and the economy".

Moscow, Mar 27 (AFP/PTI) The Russian government has ordered all cafes and restaurants to close for a week from Saturday to stem the spread of the coronavirus infection.

Russian regions are to "halt the activities of public food service organisations," except for delivery services, a government decree said on Friday.

New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI) Moody's Investors Service on Friday slashed its estimate of India's GDP growth during 2020 calendar year to 2.5 per cent, from an earlier estimate of 5.3 per cent and said the coronavirus pandemic will cause unprecedented shock to the global economy.

The estimate for 2020 compares to 5 per cent economic growth in 2019.

Mumbai, Mar 27 (PTI) The RBI on Friday put on hold EMI payments on all term loans for three months and cut interest rate by steepest in more than 11 years as it joined the government effort to rescue a slowing economy that has now got caught in coronavirus whirlwind.

BEIJING, March 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — China and the United States should “unite to fight” the deadly coronavirus pandemic that has ravaged the globe, said President Xi Jinping in a call with his US counterpart on Friday, according to state media.

The two countries have clashed in recent weeks over the virus, but Xi told President Donald Trump that China “wishes to continue sharing all information and experience with the US,” said state broadcaster CCTV.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysian Prime Minister on Friday announced an economic package amounting to RM250 billion aimed at the welfare of the people, support of businesses and strengthening the economy against the effects of the COVID-19.

The amount includes a fiscal boost of RM22 billion, government guarantees amounting to RM55 billion and other initiatives amounting to more than RM153 billion.